There have been several reports on Twitter in the last hour that state Pittsburgh Steelers restricted free agent wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders has received an offer sheet from the New England Patriots.

Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review reports via Twitter that the Steelers have not be informed that Sanders has been presented an offer sheet by Patriots, let alone signed one. He also reports that the Patriots would have to notify the Steelers immediately when and if it happens.

Sanders is visiting the Patriots on Friday and very well could sign an offer sheet. At that time the Steelers would have a week to match it or receive a third-round draft pick from the Patriots as compensation.

If they sign him to 5 mil a year we have to let him go. Anyone else feel like the Steelers management is getting its ass kicked?

http://twitter.com/Iam413James 808_Steelers

Fact if the matter is, even though he played in all 16 games last season, we were still 8-8. You want to give me a 3rd round pick in a deep draft to upgrade an 8-8 team? I’ll take that.

Jefferson_St_Joe

If it happens, you need to see the terms before you write him off. I’m sure the Steelers plan to try and extend Sanders at some point during this offseason, so if the contract is favorable you match even if there is year 1 hit that has negative ramifications to other spots on the roster.

John A Stewart

WHEN THEY RESIGN GAY AFTER HE WAS CUT FROM ARIENS AND HORTON DIDN’T CONTACT HIM I THREW IN THE TOWEL SOMETHING BIG IS GOING ON.EITHER THE ROONEY’S DONT CARE OR THEY ARE LETTING TOMLIN SHOOT HIMSELF.I AM NOT EVEN LOOKING TOWARDS THE DRAFT BECAUSE WHO EVER MY STEELER’S GET THEY WILL NOT SEE THE FEILD FOR AT LEAST 2 TO 3 YEARS.

zyzak

why are you shouting? Horton is way overrated as a secondary coach and DC

Jollyrob68

He was cut because he achieved his contract escalators. Meaning HE HAD A VERY GOOD YEAR! Then Gay wanted to come HOME. Ray Horton had nothing to do with him.

hergieburbur

Because anyone on an 8-8 automatically sucks, right?

hergieburbur

Yeah, Horton did nothing with our young guys and Lake came and made a huge difference.

TsarPepe

The going rate for 2nd WRs is about 5 mil. The real question is, do the Pats see Sanders as #2?

Vic

I say cut Big Ben and free up the cap space. We could use that money to stack up on both sides of the ball. In 3 years we can draft a QB. Lets face this team is depleted and is not going anywhere and Big Ben alone will not get us #7

http://twitter.com/Steelersdepot Steelers Depot

Easy. No shouting. Turn that caps lock off.

http://twitter.com/marshall3b marshall Biles

Well tbh im not worried, this isnt the first losing season we had, and darn sure wont be the last. But unfortunately just because this is the first not so good season tomlin has really had. We all can agree that r teams direction is not how it should be. But that could be a good thing. This will test tomlins mettle. Since pretty much the few remaining players that cowher picked up will be gone in a year or two. Then it will truly see what tomlin brings to the table. This is why coach cowher is such an iconic coach. When he retired he left a good ship to steer! Two more SB apperances and winning one of those. Now its funny that most of those guys r gone and it seems like the ship sinking just a tad. Which is ok,cowher s team stood strong the last 6 plus years and with that has given tomlin a nice cushion to had work with. Now the true test may begin. Im a loyal fan of pittsburgh and always will be. With that going said, im not taking anything away from mike. When he got here he has gotten us to the SB twice more, but my thing is we all just have to be patient, it tool cowher 14 years to get one, but also get his team together. Obviously after SB 40, we one more and lost another. With abit of the old team. So im not worried, and with a little bit of patience, time, faith, and a little prayer here n there. I believe mike will do ok. I dont think hell reach cowher status even if he wins 5 more rings. But i dont expect him to either. Sorry for the rant of nonsense just my two sense is all. Take care and be well!

hergieburbur

He didn’t sign anything yet, don’t get too excited.

hergieburbur

Do I even need to start listing the reasons why this is a terrible idea?

BoomDizzle

Ridiculous on a lot of levels. First of all Cowher had two 6 win seasons and a 7 win season. You don’t include that in your analysis. More importantly, Tomlin doesn’t have power. He couldn’t even keep Arians as his OC because Rooney wanted him gone. Rooney also went to the Senior Bowl with Tomlin. How many owners do you think were at the Senior Bowl? Tomlin doesn’t have much power at all. Colbert is responsible for a bunch of this roster mess…he just doesn’t get any blame from Steeler fans.

Garrett Hunt

Emmanuel Sanders is a good young player, that would be a shame to loose.

Douglas Andrews

808 Like minds think alike. Ill take the pick also and they can have Manny. He was a good player but This is a deep draft with some good talent. Give me the 3rd

Brandon Andrews

calm down chicken little

Brandon Andrews

for what I mean you can reason with insanity

TJ Smith

Looks like we are in for several lean years in STEELTOWN….. Thank God(Mario is God) we have the Pens!!!

John A Stewart

YOU SOUND LIKE MY WIFE LOL

Jazz

Bravo! Bravo! You hit it dead on; I’m not sure about Tomlin having no power, I think he does have some. I don’t think he is a good evaluator at judging talent, nor do I think Colbert is either. That could very well be the reason you saw Mr. Rooney at the senior bowl. Besides, take a look at Colberts track record the past 6 yrs, not good at all. Rounds 3-7, below average, Colbert is an average GM at best. Losing Sanders would be a blow because he is the best route runner the Steelers have at the WR position.

The Three Money Crew? How many SuperBowls have they won again? ZERO! This draft is deep with WR’s with good speed, however, WR’s typically take two years to develop and is considered by most experts to be the hardest position to learn coming into the NFL. And I do agree with you, can we please get over the Bill Cowher Crush? He was not all of that, 2-4 in AFC Championship Games, constantly out-coached by his peers in the playoffs, too predictable as well. I’m not quite sold on Tomlin, especially after some of the decisions he made in games in 2012, but we shall see in 2013.

Guest

Now he has…

http://twitter.com/Iam413James 808_Steelers

Not suck. Just average. Steeler fans expect better. Deserve better. Has he ever dominated a game and was the reason the team won? Not that I can recall. Would you tie millions into that type of player? Or roll the dice in a deep draft with a nice 3rd round pick who would be under contract for 4 years for one year of Sanders?

hergieburbur

As Dave mentioned, he is the best route runner we have, as well as the best blocker. He’s been the number 3 WR and has showed a lot of potential despite injuries. Has he taken over games? No, but then, he hasn’t been asked to either. Has he played well? Yes, he had big games against Baltimore and Cleveland this year among others. Are we comparing 4 years of a rookie to one year of sanders? No, not at this point. We are comparing it to whatever offer sheet he has now reportedly signed, if true. Would I role the dice? No. It is never smart business to replace a known, young up and comer with a gamble of a mid round draft pick. History is littered with deep drafts that haven’t panned out.

More importantly, the move leaves us with 1 experienced WR under 31 when the season starts, Cotchery (who is a #3 at best) as the #2, an over the hill Burress who is a situational player only at this point, any unknown rookies, and a few PS players. This is supposed to be a good thing because we get a third round pick?

hergieburbur

The way NE does business, they wouldn’t offer him a contract we could easily match. They are way more cutthroat than that.

http://twitter.com/Iam413James 808_Steelers

Depends on the offer sheet. If too expensive, can’t do it. I’d like to have him this year but should he leave, a third round pick, cap space, and the possibility of getting a quality player this draft is better than him leaving next year and having to wait another year to get a replacement.

hergieburbur

If there’s an offer sheet, I fully expect it to be something we can’t match. That is how the Pats roll. If there is not, it was already likely that they were going to extend him this offseason after the draft anyway, I think it just becomes more likely. The cap space we would save would be minimal so that doesn’t concern me.

Jefferson_St_Joe

New England is cutthroat but not financially reckless.

hergieburbur

No need to be reckless to sign an offer we can’t match. We aren’t exactly flush with cap space. Plus, if they sign him they could release Lloyd and still come out ahead.

Jefferson_St_Joe

I don’t see them offering Sanders $5m when that is all they offered Welker.

Jefferson_St_Joe

NE will make the offer as difficult to match as possible by including a significant year 1 cap hit, but the average value will probably be fair. The Steelers may have to make some uncomfortable moves to keep him, but my guess is they will. I highly doubt NE is going to offer Sanders more than they offered Welker, so the value will be under $5m/year.

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